Raptors are birds of prey. They are carnivorous birds with strong bills, large talons and exceptional flight capabilities that hunt small animals. There are more than five hundred species of raptors worldwide. Different species of raptors can be found in every type of habitat, from frozen tundra and scorching deserts to dense forests and bustling cities.
The Latin word “raptor” means “to plunder, snatch or seize”. Raptors are characterized by a hooked beak, razor-sharp talons on strong feet and excellent eyesight. They hunt with their large strong talons and sharply hooked bills. Most raptors capture exclusively live prey. Large raptors will routinely attack animals that weigh up to twenty pounds as part of a hunt, and many birds of prey will attack even larger animals if the bird feels its nest or young is threatened. Even though animals heavier than twenty pounds cannot physically be picked up by most birds of prey small pets are often harmed or killed by birds attempting to take them.
Different types of raptors have varying ways to kill their prey. A hawk kills its prey with its claws as wile a falcon uses its claws to catch its prey but kills the small animal with its mouth instead of its claws. But all capture their prey with the talons on their powerful feet. Feet are often the primary weapons of death, and protection, for raptors. The talon on the back toe is long. The size of a raptors foot varies with the size of its prey: rodent hunters generally have short, stout toes, while bird hunters have long, thin toes to increase their grasping area. Their quite large and powerful feet can exert enough pressure to puncture thick skin, often crushing and killing prey instantly. Once a raptor catches something, the bird generally will not release it until the prey stops moving. For example, red-tailed hawk talons can apply up to two hundred pounds per square inch of pressure, whereas the average human hand can only apply about ninety pounds. A golden eagle that weighs about nine pounds with a seven foot wingspan can grip with its claws with an estimated strength of several hundred pounds per square inch. The spread of a golden eagle's feet is about nine inches.
In addition to their strong talons, birds of prey have extremely fast and precise dives that make it difficult if not impossible for an animal to avoid attack. Raptors are precision divers, swooping out of the sky onto their prey, and some raptors are even capable of hovering or agilely darting through foliage to capture their next meal. For example, eagles dive as fast as one hundred and fifty to two hundred miles per hour, falcons dive at over a hundred miles per hour and hawks dive at speeds up to one hundred and eighty miles an hour.
Raptors are relatively quiet when hunting since stealth is a part of their hunting tactics. Raptors may be active at any time of day or night, though owls are the most common nocturnal birds of prey while others are diurnal and will be most active when their preferred prey is active, making hunting easier
Birds of prey have very keen eyesight. They locate and distinguish prey from a great distance. Only recently has it become known that birds possess more sophisticated color visual systems than we humans. While humans are trichromats, having photo-pigments with sensitivities at three peak wavelengths, birds have photo-pigments with sensitivities at four or five peak wavelengths, making them true tetrachromats, or perhaps even pentachromats. In some species, the visual spectrum extends into the ultraviolet range, once thought to be visible only to insects. It is as hard for humans to imagine how birds perceive color as it is for a colorblind person to imagine full color vision; it is outside of the human experience. For example, some species we see as having identical male and female plumage differ when seen in the ultraviolet range—a difference apparent to the birds themselves. This impacts the study of bird behavior, and our understanding of how birds of prey hunt prey for food.
As to their prey, they don't distinguish between a wild creature and a domestic pet. Therefore, for all these reasons pet owners fear for their pets when raptors are in the area.